Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration so, as I still have one last day left of Holidays I went to Mass but unfortunately there was no Mass being said in our church. Our resident priest is away and the sign said that Mass was being said at St Lambertus in the neighbouring village of Kalkum but I had missed it by that time. So instead of going to Mass I prayed before the Blessed Sacrament and then I took some photos of our church to put on my blog.
Before I begin however I should tell you something about St Suidbertus or St Swibert as he is sometimes called. Like me he was born in England, but in the seventh century. He studied in Ireland and then back in England before becoming a missionary with St Willibrod who was attempting to convert the Frisians who lived in, I think, the area we now know as the Netherlands. Suidbert did a fair amount of good work in Kleves which is (sort of) just down the road from here and his congregation grew. It wasn't long before the Church hierarchy heard about it and he was recalled to England to be consecrated as a missionary bishop by the great St Wilfred. Then back he went to carry on as before.
After a while Suidbert thought he might like to do more elsewhere. He said goodbye to his flock and journeyed south and east, deep into the pagan lands of what is now North Rhine Westphalia but unfortunately this was at the same time as the vicious pagan Saxons were moving west. Suidbert's missionary work was going well but constant incursions by the Saxons led to its collapse and he was forced to move.
Meanwhile Pepin, the Frankish ruler held sway over a huge swathe of land that included part of the Rhine and hearing of Suidbert's troubles he gave Suidbertus an island on the Rhine to retire too. It was soon being called Suidbert's Island and it was here that Suidbert build his church and lived peacefully until he died in 713.
It is said by some that Suidbertus was the first person to be solemnly canonised by the Church, in 804 by Pope Leo III but I don't know if this is really so.
Anyway, Suidbert's Island later became a very important place because of its position and its association with the great saint. The village that grew up around the church was secure from attack by reason of its position on the island and, as always seems to happen, the eye of the secular world soon recognised a good site when they say it and built a castle there too - Barbarossa's Castle (built by the Holy Roman Emperor Freidrich Barbarossa - Frederick Redbeard). The village became a town and the town was soon being called Kaiserswerth which is where I now live and work!
Anyway, let's move on to the church (actually it is a basilica). It is a bit different these days to before it was bombed in 1945. Tomorrow I shall post some pictures from that time. . .
Yes okay the first picture was taken in winter but the trees obscure the same view in the summer . . .
This picture was taken from near the old castle. I live on the other side of the church, in the town. Kaiserswerth is in the archdiocese of Cologne (Koeln) and our archbishop is Cardinal Meisner.
We start our tour on that side, the town side, of the church. . .
So you are walking into the old market square and there is the front porch of the church
Here is the Crucifiion scene in the porchway.
Let's have a look at the notice board. Sorry I couldn't get the picture to be any bigger . . .
But I do see there is an exhibition on the Jesuit Priest Friedrich von Spee being held at he library in Koln Cathedral. He was born in Kaiserswerth and opponent of arbitrary witch burnings. Our apartment is in a lane off Friedrich von Spee Strasse, in the old town. I also see my shadow appearing reflected in the glass!
So, you walk in and after genuflecting you look back to see where all the beautiful music is coming from and see the massive organ loft! Complete with organ. This is played every Sunday Mass - I love it! The Organist always plays long twiddly lead up bits before we begin. It's fab!
Then you walk to your pew and turn back to look at the altar. It is a sublime space and so fitting for celebrating the sacrifice of the Mass.
After praying you might like to go and visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Exposition is the norm here.
Not all the old pews survived the bombing of 1945 so what they did was intersperse old with new. Very clever idea. That way you either sit in an old pew and rest your hymnal on a new pew or else you sit in a new pew and your hymnal and Missal has the honour of sitting on one of the old carved pews instead! This is a detail of one of the old ones.
From the Lady Chapel you can look across to the Altar and behind it in the glass case is the golden reliquary of st Suidbertus. It was made in the 13th century. I can't get a closer picture as the altar is off limits and with so many tourists going in and out you have to be careful.
Here is a picture taken of a picture of the last time St Suidbertus relics were paraded around the town. It happens only once every twenty five years. . . I hope I am here for the next time! Sorry about the light in the middle but the photo was at the back of the church, behind glass...
And here is the Lady Chapel itself. I prayed to Our Lady for the blogging community here today.
Here is the old Rood screen crucifixion scene. The bomb knocked this down and it was too expensive at the time for the people to reinstate it. Mind you it does look nice on the wall.
Here is a close up (ish) view of the statue of Our Lady. It is quite old. Someone came in here to pray so I had to move away so as not to disturb them.
Here is our Pope corner: Good old Papst Benedikt XVI!
Here is one of the two confessionals
Here are a couple of monuments at the back of the church. these were some of the very few to survive the bombing which also disclosed the old medieval charnel house!
Well I hope you enjoyed these pictures! They were taken on this very day! I love my parish church very much. It is a lovely place to come and worship God, so if you are ever in this part of Germany . . .
NB:
The picture of St Suidbertus came from this site, a wonderful Italian site on the saints.
